Honouring A Good Man

It's Remembrance Day in Canada, and my province treats the day as a statutory holiday so I'm taking it easy today. Honestly, though, we shouldn't ever forget about the sacrifices made by the members of our Canadian Armed Forces and their families, both past and present, in helping us have the freedoms we do. I am grateful for these freedoms, and I want to say thank you to each and every veteran who has protected those freedoms, and say thank you to the families who lost loved ones in defending these freedoms. These men and women are true heroes that walk among us, and I am will always be thankful for their courage and bravery.

There's also another group of people that deserve a little thanks, and one of these people was featured on a Global TV feature today in Saskatoon! Dave Westbury is a name that not a lot of people will know at first glance, but there have been countless athletes who have thanked him over the years for the work that he's done for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team!

Who is Dave and why am I thanking him? Watch the video below from Global News Saskatoon for a news story by Ryan Flaherty.

Dave Westbury is the equipment guru for the Saskatchewan Huskies and a guy with whom I regularly chat Canada West hockey. Dave always has good persepctive on the game at the university level, and we've traded some laughs since I first met him in London, Ontario at the 2018 U SPORTS National Championship.

To say he's one of the good guys in the game would be a massive understatement. Dave really goes above and beyond in his role with the Huskies, and the players - as evidenced by the comments made by both Camryn Drever and Bailee Bourassa - rely on Dave as much as they do on each other.

Having seen the work that Dave, Bisons equipment magician Mat Relf, and Pandas equipment manager AJ Murley do and knowing how much they love their craft, these are the guys that keep the scorers scoring, the goalies stopping, and the defenders defending each and every game with their work on skate blades, equipment repairs, stick preparation, and jersey laundering and repairs. Without guys like Dave, Mat and AJ, the Huskies, Bisons, and Pandas simply wouldn't be as successful as they are in my humble opinion.

As you heard in the video, Dave Westbury was coaching hockey when Steve Kook, head coach of the Huskies women's program, asked him to become a video coach for the team. As the program evolved and things changed, Dave began doing more on the equipment side of things - something he wasn't really experienced in doing.

"Zero experience, to be honest," Westbury told Global News' Ryan Flaherty. "My dad sharpened skates growing up but I remember how he was sharpening skates and how we sharpen skates now is totally different."

Westbury is a quick learner in his work, though. He's learned new skate sharpening techniques, sewing and how to use a sewing machine, and how to repair equipment in a jiffy in terms of his new skill set. The result is that the Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team are always ready for their next shifts no matter what equipment crisis strikes thanks to Dave.

I know Dave wasn't satisfied with a fourth-place finish at Nationals in 2018, and the Huskies are perennially a dangerous team who could win the conference. He'll be working tirelessly for the women as they aim to capture the Golden Path Trophy at some point in the future, and he's already joked that his work will never be done until that happens.

That's why he's one of the good ones in Canadian university hockey. Thanks for all you do in making this game as good as it is every night, every season, every practice, and every single day, Dave. And thanks for letting me get to know you because I'm grateful to call you my friend.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!